E-mail from Vincent Waters

The National Secretary, Association of Scottish Community Councils

15^th December 2007

Dear Geoffrey

I confirm your letter addressed to the National President was received at the ASCC office. I’m conscious that your letter to me on 25 October has not had a response. You probably know this is because there had been no intervening ASCC Executive Council meeting – until last Saturday.

I cannot say why you would not have had a lack of response to letters sent to my, or Frank Gunning’s, predecessors, and I’m sorry to hear this has been so.

As I mentioned to you after your first contact, some months ago, the issue of interaction –and especially membership – between the national association and CC collectives is one we have been considering actively all year. We had hoped to gauge the views of CC delegates at the recent AGM, but the pressure of time meant several items of business had to be put off.

I had been tasked by my colleagues at the EC meeting last weekend to write to you about this, so I hope this will serve as an adequate reply.

At the EC meeting, 25 elected ASCC representatives, from all parts of Scotland, (including Argyll & Bute) unanimously agreed that a practicable and constitutional case could not be made for extending ASCC membership to CC collectives. Several reasons led to this conclusion, perhaps most prominent being the danger of weakening the ASCC’s one-to-one relationship with each CC in Scotland. The Council has been reviewing and discussing this issue since early 2006, when the responses to the national survey by the Scottish Executive came in; this decision represents the conclusion of that process.

We realise this is perhaps not the answer AABCC hoped for, and we do regret that. The ASCC EC resolved that elected representatives in each area should be in regular and positive contact with collectives (where they exist), and I’m sure Andrew Scobie will seek to do this in your area. In many other areas it is common for the ASCC Area Representative to be actively involved, and often an officer, of collectives in their area, and this has helped to maintain a level of two-way communication.

The Association is currently negotiating with the Government, and we have made considerable emphasis of the barrier a membership fee is to many CCs. It is also certain the recently confirmed status of CCs as data controllers (requiring an annual £35 fee) will add to the pressure on CC budgets, and the ASCC is making a strong case for enhanced funding through all local authorities.

We are also actively exploring sources of funding that would enable us to increase the regularity and depth of our contact with all 1200 CCs in Scotland.

Please convey the warm seasonal greetings of the Executive Council to our colleagues on the AABCC, and my personal best wishes to you.

Good luck to us all in 2008.

Yours ,

Vincent Waters

National Secretary,

Association of Scottish Community Councils

0845 644